


You

by Youremyalways



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Abusive!Campbell, Grizzam, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-05-18 17:37:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19339336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Youremyalways/pseuds/Youremyalways
Summary: Campbell suspects that Sam is harboring Elle.That, as you can imagine, does not end well for Sam.(Lots of hurt Sam, and Grizz and Sam, of course!)





	1. Stitches and scars

**Author's Note:**

> Hey loves!!!
> 
> The support I got on my last story was insane so thank you so much! <3
> 
> I hope you enjoy this one as well! 
> 
> A little bit longer, a little bit darker, but as always... when it comes to Grizz & Sam, the more the merrier!

It was made mandatory for Campbell to learn sign language as a kid. 

His parents learned days after the doctor looked them somberly in the eyes and spoke the dreadful words that condemned his brother to a life of silence, and in the weeks following his diagnosis, Campbell was forced to learn the language as well. After a while, he was as fluent in sign as he was in english, sometimes even finding himself flailing his hands when Sam wasn’t even in the room out of habit.

That’s how Sam knew when Campbell was really, truly pissed. He only stopped using sign language around Sam when he was yelling, or avidly trying to confuse and intimidate his younger sibling. He forced Sam to work harder to understand his words by not providing any visual aid and most of the time, speaking fastly on purpose just to make it as difficult on Sam as possible. Because he knew that Sam wouldn’t correct him. 

That’s how Sam knew that Campbell was pissed right now.

“WHERE IS SHE?” He screamed.

Sam took a small step backwards as he watched a bead of spit shoot out of Campbell’s mouth as he yelled. His eyebrows were knitted tight together in anger, mouth hanging low in a spine-chilling, humorless smile that made every single hair on Sam’s body stand straight up. The subtle way Campbell straightened his back and titled his head up made him appear so large and dominant.

_ ‘I don’t know’ _ Sam signed, trying hard to convey truth despite knowing the words were lies.

Elle came to Allie’s house last night with fear plastered across her face and tear stains down her pale cheeks. Allie was still at the hospital so Gordie was the one who answered the door, it was just pure chance that Sam was sitting in the living room when that happened. In a matter of seconds Gordie was pushed back by her arms flying around his neck, begging from them to save her. Sam knew immediately what was going on. He knew she was involved with his brother, and nobody that got involved with his brother ended up well. So he offered to harbor her until they could find a way to contain Campbell, providing her an extra, guarded room in Allie’s house to keep her secure and protected.

“Like hell.” Campbell bit out, seething at the mouth.

He approached Sam then, closing the distance between them and shoving his brother backwards so hard he stumbled to the ground. Sam groaned as he hit the concrete tailbone first, wincing backwards when Campbell didn’t stop coming towards him.“Fucking pussy.” Campbell growled as he placed a well-aimed, devastatingly hard kick to Sam’s ribs, making him wheeze and gasp for air.

Sam squeezed his eyes shut as he identified the coppery taste of blood rising in the back of his throat. He began coughing and reached to wrap his arms around his chest to protect himself, but he couldn’t do it in time. Campbell was falling to his knees on top of Sam, moving forward to straddle the boy’s stomach. He reached out and grabbed the collar of Sam’s shirt, ripping it forward so the fabric pulled harshly at the skin on the back of his neck.

“Where. Is. She?” Campbell repeated, tugging Sam’s collar even tighter to elicit a strangled groan from the boy beneath him.

“I told you.” Sam spoke in broken syllables, his arms useless pinned to his sides by his brother’s heavy legs.

Campbell shook his head and drew one hand away from Sam’s collar, pulling it back at a straight angle before rushing it forward at rapid speed and connecting his knuckles with the left side of Sam’s jaw, “You’re lying!”

Sam couldn’t stop the cough that rifled through him, wincing as the natural reaction made blood come sputtering out of his mouth, dripping steadily down his chin and onto Campbell’s knuckles, which still hadn’t budged from their spot on his jaw.

Sam felt a tear fall down his cheek, stinging as it hit a spot on his jaw where the skin had broken under Campbell’s punch.

“Come on, Sam, I know you’re smarter than this!” Campbell barked again, raising the same fist and bringing it down against the side of his skull even harder this time.

Sam let out what he could only assume sounded like a sob. His head stung and then pounded, throbbing under Campbell’s fingers and dripping thick, crimson blood.

“Please…” He whimpered as Campbell connected his fist with his face for the third time, losing the ability to differentiate the blood from the tears on his face.

“Not until you tell me!” Campbell yelled again, but Sam couldn’t see it.

His eyes were completely blurred over, tears forming shields over his irises and blocking the sense he had come to rely on so heavily. Panic started to rise tenfold in his chest as he felt the world become ever dimmer to him than it already was. Being deaf was enough, but also not being able to see made him want to curl up in a corner and sob for the rest of his life.

“Hey, look at me when I talk to you, useless piece of shit!” Campbell screamed, grabbing Sam roughly by the jaw and forcing him to look at him, holding his head up at an uncomfortable angle so the tears fell down his cheeks and no longer clouded his vision.

The pressure on Sam’s neck made him choke and gasp for air, but that seemed to only motivate Campbell to squeeze harder and lower. There was a sick joy in his eyes, and it made Sam’s skin crawl. He knew that his brother was a psychopath, but sometimes he was able to hide in denial and pretend they were normal siblings. But this… this proved the complete and utter lack of empathy that Campbell possessed, and it shook Sam to his utter core.

“Campbell, please.” Sam gasped, choking on the stale air that entered his throat when Campbell finally released his throat.

He looked up from Sam’s broken and bleeding face and turned to the side with an amused, yet surprised look, forcing Sam to turn his head as well to see what Campbell had clearly heard and turned to look at. He let out a relieved sigh when, many yards away, he saw Bean and Helena walking towards them with a few other girls and two members of the guard.

“You lucked out this time, fag.” Campbell turned to Sam and sliced him with his words, “If you tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you.”

Sam was left with whiplash when Campbell shot up from where he was sitting and sprinted off, releasing Sam’s head and sending it crashing to the pavement. He was more thrown by Campbell’s last words, however. It wasn’t an empty threat.

It was a promise.

Sam laid there with tears in his eyes as he watched Helena and the group finally get close enough to see him. He could tell the second they did because all of them instantaneously broke into sprints, eyes widening comically large. Sam let out a relieved sigh, flinching at how painful it was to inhale and exhale through his battered throat and sore ribs. 

“Sam?!” Helena yelled as she took the lead, approaching him in a matter of seconds and falling to her knees beside his body.

“Holy shit, are you okay?” Clark announced as he took position on Sam’s opposite side, eyes running over his face and assessing the damage.

“I don’t know.” Sam gasped, allowing his eyes to close now that help was here.

“What do we do?!” Bean yelled, carefully spreading her hands over Sam’s collarbones, neck, chest, and face. 

“We should get him to a hospital. He needs stitches, probably. I think his lungs are messed up too from the weird breathing. I don’t know if he hit his head, but… he could have a concussion.” Helena announced to the group.

“Do we know how to handle any of that?!” Clark asked, worry lacing his voice.

“Kelly will figure it out. That’s not the priority right now, we have to get him to the hospital first. Help me lift him!” Bean spoke, voice shaking.

Clark nodded and reached down to throw one of Sam’s arms over his shoulders, watching as Luke came around the other side and grabbed Sam’s opposite arm. Slowly the two of them raised Sam from the ground and shifted his weight between them to make him easy for transport. 

The hospital was a mere two minutes away, but clearly with the rapid pace that blood was leaving Sam’s body, time was precious.

 

———————————————

 

The first thing that hit him when he woke up was the potent smell of saline and detergent.

He crinkled his nose at the aroma, slowly opening his eyes to take in his surroundings. The walls were ivory and the room was small. He was in the hospital, that much was clear. 

The second thing that hit him was the overwhelming pain. His entire chest was on fire, burning worse with every breath he took. His face was sore and tender, one eye swollen over and incredibly difficult to see through. Sam slowly reached up with his left hand to feel the edge of his jaw, wincing at how swollen the flesh was under his touch. He felt the rise and fall of stitches all along his chin and around his hairline, flinching when the touch became too agonizing near his nose.

As his mind ran over all of the places pain was radiating from on his body, a hand suddenly reached out in front of him and caught his attention. 

Sam turned slowly, wincing at the way it strained his neck.

_ ‘There he is’ _ Becca signed with a smile from where she was sitting in a chair next to his bed.

Her eyes were bloodshot and low.

_ ‘How long have I been asleep’ _ Sam signed, resting his head against the pillow to take some of the pressure off of his neck.

_ ‘Two hours, maybe three’ _ She nodded,  _ ‘That was very scary’ _

_ ‘I’m sorry’ _

_ ‘Not your fault’ _ She shrugged, reaching out to take his hand in hers and giving it a reassuring squeeze,  _ ‘Was it Campbell?’ _

Sam sighed. She knew him so damn well. But he couldn’t tell her, not unless he wanted her baby to grow up fatherless. So he swallowed down his pride.

_ ‘No. Hate crime, I think.’ _

Pease run with it- he thought.

Please.

_ ‘Really?’ _ She seemed surprised, but not necessarily suspicious and that made the boulder in Sam’s stomach shrink to a normal sized rock.

Sam just nodded, thumb brushing over her knuckles in their joint hands.

_ ‘Are you in a lot of pain? A lot of people are sick right now, but I’m sure Kelly could get you some meds.’ _

Sam smiled slightly at the obvious hesitation she had in her sign language. Her eyes were scared and blown wide, like she’d been crying. He could tell she was afraid, and he knew he owed her the truth- but she was pregnant. Him exaggerating his level of agony wasn’t a life or death matter, and if he could do anything to reduce the amount of stress she was under, he would do it in a heartbeat. Kelly too, with the whole pumpkin pie debacle she’s been spreading herself paper thin and she didn’t need to be spending extra time or resources on him.

_ ‘Nah, Can’t feel much’ _ he nodded, which sent a burst of agony down his neck that he successfully hid somehow- he would be sure to give himself a pat on the back for that later.

Becca nodded and the relief that took over her face made the white lies worth it in every single possible way.

_ ‘Is there anyone you need me to call?’ _ She asked next, pretty much assuming his answer would be no, but checking out of respect anyway. That’s how it worked in real hospitals, right?

Sam opened his mouth, all set to say no, but then…

_ ‘Have you seen Grizz?’  _ Sam asked through the fluid movement of his hands.

She looked to be thinking for a few seconds before answering,  _ ‘You mean the guard member? I don’t think so. Why are you looking for him?’ _

_ ‘I want to talk to him.’  _ He deflected.

_ ‘That doesn’t answer my question.”  _ She raised her eyebrows in an unamused fashion, settling back against her seat and crossing her arms over her stomach.

Sam sighed, looking over to Becca and laughing quietly,  _ ‘You suck.’ _

Becca rolled her eyes, but before she could counter, he was raising a hand to silence her.

_ ‘Becca, I lied. I didn’t sleep through thanksgiving, I was with Grizz. You can’t tell anyone, I don’t know if he’s out or not now. I’m sorry, but I care about him. I don’t want him to worry too much.’  _ Sam confessed, furrowing his eyebrows in his own worry.

_ ‘If you care about him, that’s all that matters. I’ll see if I can get him. Do you mind being alone for a bit? I can get you anything you need while I go find him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind bringing anything either.’  _ Becca slowly signed and whispered her way through the speech, watching carefully for Sam’s reactions.

_ ‘I’ll be okay.’ _ He settled on, hoping it answered enough of her questions for her to feel content enough to leave.

“I love you”, she spoke clearly, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to the cheek that wasn’t broken and bleeding before giving him a knowing smirk and signing,  _ ‘I’ll be back soon with your man.’ _

Sam just laughed as he watched Becca exit the room, leaving him in isolation.

Well, in isolation for a total of sixty seconds before Kelly and Gordie came barreling in the door side by side.

“How do you feel?” Kelly over pronounced to Sam, looking over his body as Gordie went to look over the monitors on either side of Sam’s head.

She tore a pair of bright blue latex gloves off as she walked forward, tossing them lightly into a trash barrel by the door. 

“Okay.” Sam answered simply, taking in the dark circles under her eyes and knowing that an understatement was the right way to go. 

Kelly gave him a smirk that said ‘Not buying it’ and asked him again, “Can you rate the pain 1-10 on each body part as I name them?”

Sam nodded slowly.

“Okay. Forehead.”

Sam rose 5 fingers.

“Cheek”

4

“Nose” 

7

“Chin”

6

“Ribs”

8.

“Okay. Sam, I think your nose is just a bad bruise, same with your throat. However, I think you’ve broken at least one rib. I read some books on it, but I think the cure really is to lay low and let it heal itself. Everything else should heal over time. The stitches should fall out.”

“Thank you.” Sam replied with a curt nod.

_ ‘You’re welcome’ _ Kelly signed with a smile.

“You’re vitals look good too. You can sleep for a bit now, let your system recover.” Gordie stepped to be in Sam’s line of vision, signing the few words he did know.

Sam nodded and reached out to put a hand on Gordie’s shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze that said ‘thank you’ without ever having to open his mouth.

Gordie reached up with his hand and covered Sam’s hand with his, giving it an equally grateful pat.

_ ‘I’ve got you.’ _ He signed once he let his arm drop back down in front of him,  _ ‘Rest now.’ _

Sam nodded and as the two of them filed out of his room, he found that his eyelids were growing heavier and heavier, and he was losing the energy to fight the fatigue.

He let his eyelids squeeze tight and happily entered the warm abyss of oblivion, prepared to doze for hours.

Sleep was weird like that though. Sam didn’t think he even fully fell asleep by the time the next visiter arrived. He could tell someone entered the room because behind his eyelids was suddenly lighter. Someone came in and turned the lights on.

So Sam squinted his eyes open and blinked several times, trying to clear his sleep-blurred vision. 

And there he was.

Standing in the corner, arms crossed tightly over his chest, hands tucked into his pockets. The look of his face put Sam on the verge of a breakdown.

“Campbell.”


	2. Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Campbell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this for one’s a little short but it needed to be on its own to create the best flow so ~enjoy~

_ ‘How did you get in here?’ _

“It’s a shit storm out there, Sammy. Easy to slip in. What would they do even if they saw me? Can’t kick me out cause they’re scared.” Campbell smiled, idoly flicking dirt from under his fingernails to the floor below.

_ ‘Why are you here?’  _ Sam signed, carefully eyeing Campbell as he swallowed down the enormous lump in his throat.

Everytime Campbell was in a room it felt like the oxygen was completely evaporated, leaving everyone in his presence strangling and choking for breath. He had a thing about him that sucked all of the energy and optimism clear out of the air. 

As Campbell took a step closer, a tear came racing down Sam’s right cheek, sending a cold chill over his pale face and down the length of his entire body, making him shiver.

“Would look a little weird if I didn’t visit my sick baby bro in the hospital, huh? Plus, why would the person who did this come and see you? I’ve got a reputation to protect, Sam.” Campbell talked fast, only allowing Sam to grasp onto some of the scattered words.

Sam shook his head,  _ ‘You don’t care what other people think. Why are you really here?’ _

Campbell visibly laughed and slowly stalked forward, continuing to approach until he was so close that Sam could feel his breath against his chin.

_ ‘I need to make sure you keep our little secret.’  _ He signed, eyes intense and unmoving from Sam’s.

Sam swallowed harshly, looking up to Campbell with tears dangling on his lower lids,  _ ‘What secret?’ _

Campbell’s mouth broke into a shiteating grin that would make the cheshire cat applaud. 

“Good boy.” He answered, slapping a hand down on Sam’s shoulder and making him cough and curl in on himself as his chest erupted in pain.

Campbell moved to leave Sam, turning his back to his injured brother and taking a few steps towards the door. 

But then he turned around fully, eyes like daggers.

“Oh and,” Campbell started speaking but then shifted to sign language, exemplifying the importance of Sam understanding his next words,  _ ‘one more thing. I will find Elle, and if you have anything to do with her disappearing… you’ll beg for broken ribs and stitches over what I have planned for you” _

Sam cowered back into his bed, face remaining unmoved despite the fear that began to rummage all over his body.

“Bye, Sam.” Campbell spoke with finality as he turned his back once again and made to leave the room, not before sending Sam one last deadly glare.

As Sam watched him exit, a tightness suddenly erupted in his chest. The unyielding feeling was so pronounced it felt like he was choking. His eyes went wide and dilated as dizziness overtook his brain. Out of nowhere it felt like he’d been hanging upside down for hours. Both his legs and arms started tingling intensely.

He let out a loud- or what he hoped was loud- call for help as tears started to pour down his face uncontrollably. It was slowly starting to feel like he couldn’t breathe, almost as if he’s underwater with no way of coming up for air. 

As Kelly raced in, he felt his neck go completely numb, and witnessed his vision blurring over as his body shook uncontrollably and he wheezed for air.

“Sam!” She yelled, not that he knew that.

It lasted only a few more seconds, but it felt like a damn week. His body fell into a state of complete and utter shock. He couldn’t stop shaking and suddenly felt exhausted—like all the life had been sucked out of his body.

“Hey,” Kelly spoke with worry painted across her face when Sam finally focused in on her face with a whimper.

He kept gasping and looking all over the room for answers. Panic was building in his sternum.

“Calm down! Deep breaths.” Kelly instructed and then demonstrated, hand on her chest as it rose and fell with each intake of breath.

Sam did his best to follow, even through the rips of pain that rocketed through his sternum from the deep breaths upsetting his lungs and thus his cracked ribs.

“What happened?” He choked out once he finally caught his breath, tears falling down his face.

She reached forward and with a gentle hand, wiped the tears from his face, careful to avoid the bruised and cut up skin, “Panic attack, I think. You’re okay now.” 

Sam nodded and let out a relieved breath. He thought he was fucking dying.

“Are you okay? Did something happen that would have triggered this?” She asked, meddling with the sheets on the bed to make Sam more comfortable.

Sam just shrugged, looking off a little to the side. His stomach was growing twisted with the weight of all the lies. 

But Kelly seemed content enough as she finished tucking the sheets in by his side and gave him a soft pat on the shoulder.

“Next time,” She started, “We have call buttons here.” She lifted up the small red remote attached to the side of Sam’s bed, “I know it’s busy but don’t hesitate, okay?”

Sam nodded gratefully, “Thank you.”

Kelly nodded back before turning to leave the room, “See if you can get some rest.”

_ ‘Will do.’ _

He leaned back against the hard mattress as she walked away, closing his eyes slowly. Sam took a few deep breaths in and out, trying to calm his nerves. He couldn’t fall asleep though, no matter what he tried. So he opened his eyes once again and turned towards his window, which at first only showed him a few trees and a filled parking lot.

But there was something he saw right as he was about to turn away. Through the thin gaps between the shudders of his window, he saw two figures talking. One was tall, skinny, with long long hair. 

Kelly. 

But the other was even taller, built, and had dark brown strands covering the side of his face. Sam’s heart pounded at the sight of him.

Grizz.

That’d be a good face to wake up to, he thought as the blanket of sleep couldn’t be fought off any longer and fell over him, wrapping him in the warm cloud of oblivion.


	3. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grizz!
> 
> That’s it.
> 
> That’s the summary.

_ “Grizz it’s Sam. I’m not positive what happened but he’s in the hospital and he’s pretty beat up. He wanted me to get you.” _

Becca’s words played on a loop in Grizz’s head as he finally approached the tainted white double doors of the hospital. She had looked so worried and confused. It made Grizz so on edge and anxious that he swore he could hear his heart beating in his chest, pounding at a rate that was probably unhealthy. He barely even said goodbye to Becca before racing to the hospital- to where Sam is. 

He reached out for the doors, opening them and barging in. He pummeled through the crowd in the main hallway and raced to the stairs, having the mind to at least follow Becca’s directions. 

But when he reached the door that directly lead to the staircase, a hand reached out and stopped him, gripping his forearm and turning him around.

His eyes gazed over the girl standing in front of him, sweat on her brow and cheeks flushed red.

“Kelly? What’s wrong?” Grizz asked, not quite understanding why she was stopping him right now.

“Can we talk outside?” She asked loudly, practically yelling over the commotion in the hallway. He swore half the town was gathered in the foyer, all obsessing over one if not more of the poison victims.

Grizz peered up the stairs, heart pulling him through that door and to Sam. But his head knew he had to listen to Kelly.

“Okay.” He reluctantly agreed and followed her as she made her way to the double doors that Grizz just came in through.

Once they settled right outside the hospital, Kelly crossed her arms over her chest.

“Sorry, it’s just so loud in there.”

She looked awful. Worn out and tired beyond belief. 

“I get it,” Grizz replied, growing impatient, “Look, Kelly I really just want to go-”

“Yes. That’s the reason I need to talk to you. Allie is under strong protection right now. Someone could’ve poisoned her and she and I both agreed that it’s best that nobody goes in for now. I’m sorry but you can’t see her.” Kelly stated like it was simple.

Grizz almost wanted to laugh at that assumption. But then again, him and Sam had barely just started seeing each other. Nobody even knew that they were. It made sense that Kelly would assume he was coming to see Allie. Why would she even consider anything else?

“I’m here for Sam, actually.” He corrected nicely, with a subtle tilt of his head and raise of his brows.

Kelly’s eyebrows raised a little themselves at that confession, and she took a small step back that Grizz would have missed if he hadn’t been paying attention.

“Oh,” She finally said after a few very long, silent seconds, “I’m sorry. Uhm, he’s upstairs.” 

Grizz nodded his thanks and proceeded back towards the doors.

“But wait.” Kelly interrupted again and God she was a sweetheart, but Grizz really felt like he could punch her right now.

“What?” He spoke, the word coming out harsher than he meant.

“Before you go up I just thought you might want to hear about his… condition. I don’t want you to freak out when you see him, because that wouldn’t be good for him.”

Grizz sighed and looked down, but nodded nonetheless.

“Okay. Well, he’s got a lot of stitches. They’re across his forehead here,” She ran her finger tip over where they would be on her own hairline, “and down by his chin. His nose is swollen and bruised. There are marks up and down his throat and his lip is blown up.”

“Shit.” Grizz let out in an incoherent mumble, eyes welling with tears of shock and sadness.

“He’ll be okay. His ribs are the worst, so breathing is going to be a bitch for a little while, but I expect a full recovery.”

Grizz shook his head, tilting his head up to stop the tears from falling.

“Why are you seeing him anyway? I didn’t realize you were friends.” She asked then, a suspicious glint in her eyes.

“Uh,” Grizz looked down to meet her eyes, “Yeah, yeah. We’re friends.” 

Kelly just nodded, “Good enough for me. Just be careful okay? I don’t know if he’d want you to know this, but he had a panic attack earlier.” 

Grizz felt his heart stop pounding in his chest. It felt like the weight of the world fell off of his shoulders and settled snugly into his stomach.

No interruption was going to stop him this time. He barreled into the hospital and up the stairs in record breaking time. By the time he got to Sam’s down he was short of breath and his heart was pounding again.

He raised his hand to knock before scoffing at himself and lowering his hand to the doorknob. With a soft twist, he opened the door.

If he thought he was out of breath before…

Sam was lying on a hospital bed with the upper half tilted up almost like a chair, his eyes were closed just lightly, eyelashes still fluttering like he was in the midst of a dream. Kelly was right- he looked terrible.

Right along his hairline there was a jagged, raised wound pulled roughly together with thick black thread. It extended from the middle of his left eyebrow to just below his temple, dried blood still surrounding the cut. There was a similar situation on his jaw. A long slice snaked its way from below his ear to just below his chin, uneven in depth and width. Dark stitches pulled the skin together, and there looked to be several dark green and purple bruises forming around the swollen wound. His nose was bright purple along the bridge, and spread to a lighter blue as it extended to the nostrils on either side. Grizz could just start to make out the blurred edges of bruises along the neckline of his tee shirt, clearly indicating his chest was probably a whole other mess of wounds. Every breath sounded like a wheeze.

He wanted to punch the fucking life out of whoever did this to Sam. His Sam.

He stepped forward with careful steps, approaching the bed slowly. He was thankful in that moment that Sam couldn’t hear, because surely if he could he would be able to hear Grizz’s heart beating right now.

“I really hope you got some good punches in too, Sam.” Grizz mumbled to himself as he reached over to the small table on the right side of Sam’s bed and grabbed the dark gray washcloth that was sitting there. 

“Thanks Kelly.” He spoke aloud to nobody again as he dipped the washcloth in the bath of warm water sitting next to it. Who else would’ve left this for Sam? That girl was something else.

Granted, it was probably there for Becca’s use, and quite probably by her request now that Grizz was thinking about it. But, whatever. There was blood drying on Sam’s face and Grizz couldn’t have that.

So he gently wrang the cloth out over the water bath and sat down in a chair that was already pulled up by Sam’s bed. Again, thanks Becca and Kelly.

With a soft sigh, he brought the warm cloth up to Sam’s untouched cheek first, gently soothing the skin with soft, caressing movements. As he gained more confidence, he brought the cloth carefully up to the wound on Sam’s forehead, gently prodding at the sticky, dried blood surrounding the cut.

He swore out loud when he misjudged how close his hand was to the cut and ran the cloth right over his first several stitches. Sam jolted awake, eyes opening wide as saucers.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay! I’m sorry!” Grizz rushed out, panic settling in his own chest.

Sam seemed to settle down once he made eye contact with Grizz, shoulders falling back down against the mattress easily. He immediately appeared significantly less calm and peaceful than when he was sleeping. There was intense worry and panic on his face, polluting his light features.

“You okay?” Grizz asked slowly, reaching out with the hand not holding the washcloth and going to take Sam’s hand in his.

Sam sighed as he allowed Grizz to interlock their fingers together, letting out a soft, content hum as Grizz gave his knuckles a little sweep with his thumb and a reassuring squeeze. 

“I’m okay.” Sam confirmed with a nod.

“Yeah, you look okay.” Grizz scoffed, pulling the washcloth away and looking over Sam’s face with teary eyes.

Sam shook his head, gently squeezing Grizz’s hand and assuring, “I promise. Barely even stings.”

“Don’t lie, I can get you pain meds if you need them.” Grizz tilted his head with a raised brow.

“You sound like Becca.” Sam laughed, wincing a little as the intakes of breath made his ribs jostle.

“Yeah, well, Becca’s very smart.” Grizz replied, shaking his head and slowly bringing the hand holding the washcloth back up to Sam’s face.

He gently soothed over Sam’s jaw, carefully cleaning the edges of his messy, stitched up wound. He tried his hardest to wipe away the blood without pressing too hard on the bruises or cut tissue.

“I make a habit of surrounding myself with bright people.” Sam agreed with a smirk, lifting his hand and pushing a single finger out to poke Grizz in the chest, emphasizing that his comment included him.

Grizz smiled a little as he guided the washcloth over Sam’s jawline, “Good, then maybe you should be bright too and take some pain meds.”

_ ‘No’  _ Sam signed, shaking his head in determination.

“Sam-” Grizz began to argue, but the named man cut him off.

“No. What if Becca needs them, after she has the baby. During birth. What if you or somebody else breaks their leg? I don’t need them.” Sam assured, stubborn as always.

“Sam your fucking ribs are broken, you need them. I can tell you’re in pain you’re doing that little eyebrow scrunchie thing.”

Sam knit his eyebrows together and threw his head back slightly in confusion, a smirk playing up on the edge of his lips. He lifted a hand up to where Grizz’s held a washcloth with his own hand on Sam’s cheek. He carefully covered Grizz’s hand with his own, spreading his fingers so every knuckle met. He then kept sliding his fingers until he could interlock them with Grizz’s from behind, grasping his hand and pulling it away from his face.

“How would you know?” 

Grizz laughed and allowed Sam to move his hand down into his lap, moving his face up to look at Sam as he blushed ten shades of red, “I uh… it was cooking class sophomore year. You sort of cut your palm with the knife… and you had that same expression when the nurse came in and started cleaning it. Little wrinkles right here,” Grizz reached up and pointed to the space between his own eyebrows.

“Oh,” Sam raised his eyebrows, “So you were checking me out, huh?” 

“Oh shut up,” Grizz laughed, shaking his head, “Hard not to look at the kid that’s bleeding all over the banana bread.”

“Fair enough,” Sam nodded, pushing his lower lip out, “But not everybody notices the wrinkles in my brows, Grizz.”

“Yeah, well, not everybody is me.” Grizz bit back with a small smile.

The amused smile dropped completely from Sam’s face, and as he leaned slightly forward in the bed, it was replaced by a smile that carried a very different energy. 

“Certainly not.” Sam sighed.

He leaned all the way forward then, taking his hands off of Grizz’s so he could bring them up to his face. He carefully framed Grizz’s still pink cheeks and brushed the soft skin with his fingertips, gently pulling his face towards his own. Grizz’s breath hitched as Sam pulled him forward, butterflies still filling his stomach no matter the fact that they’d done this before. With Sam it would always feel like the first time. Their lips met softly this time, not crashing. It was soft and delicate. Grizz was being so weary of Sam’s injuries, only just barely putting pressure on the left side of his mouth where it was most swollen.

Grizz slowly became more courageous in the kiss, parting his lips from Sam’s before sliding them together again, pulling and sucking at his flesh. A little whine escaped from Sam’s mouth when Grizz opened his mouth further, widening the gap and allowing Sam access. Sam took advantage rather quickly, gently pushing his tongue forward and sinking it below Grizz’s, going on to lick fluid patterns around the muscle. Grizz moaned as he sank into the kiss, eyes closing and body losing stability. He felt like clay, molding under Sam’s touch. 

He couldn’t help himself, he was throwing the washcloth down on the metal table with a clang and moving his hands up to grasp Sam’s hips. Grizz got up out of the chair and walked forward without separating their lips, slowly forcing Sam to lean back against the mattress. He dug his fingertips into the soft flesh of Sam’s hips, making Sam’s breath hitch in a way that Grizz was sure he could get drunk off of. Soon Sam was pressed back against the slightly upturned mattress with Grizz eagerly licking his way into his mouth. It was so good and so wonderful and so-

Grizz pushed a little too hard, lost in the moment and forgetting the situation. Sam let out a cry and winced away, gasping for air which, judging by the following flinches, only made things worse for his ribs, which were clearly causing agonizing friction against his lungs when they inflated just the tiniest bit too much. 

“Oh my god, I’m sorry!” Grizz yelled as he backed away faster than he could even think.

Sam just laughed, “Worst kiss ever.”

“You’re crazy!” Grizz yelled, panic still fresh in his eyes. 

“Crazy about you.” Sam raised his eyebrows, pulling Grizz back down. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Grizz asked just an inch away from his lips.

“There are a lot of things in my life that aren’t okay right now, but you’re not one of them. We’ll deal with it all, together.” Sam assured.

Campbell was a disaster, his ribs were a mess, and this whole damn society was in pieces. 

But Grizz was squeaky clean.

“Together.”


End file.
